ABSTRACT:
The purpose of this study was to discover the motives why certain
Mozambican women from high socio-economic status and with high educational
level involve in multiple and concurrent sexual partnerships (MCP). Using
convenience sampling method, 28 women living in the two Mozambican main cities
(Maputo and Beira) were selected to participate in the study and in-depth
interviewed. According to the main themes emerged from the participant
speeches, it seems that the women of the Mozambican higher society engage in
MCP in the framework of power and influence issues that allow them to get help
or facilitate the achievement of their business or the development of their
professional career. The research also found that one of the reasons for this
practice was the lack of sexual pleasure in the marital relationship because
their partners do not provide pleasure or give pleasure below their
expectations. Another motive for engaging in MCP is a reaction to male
domination and male infidelity, a will to transgress the established order and
claim a kind of emancipation. Doing that, the participants appear to neglect
their biological risk of HIV infection rather to rich their aspirations or
maximize their “social capital”.